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I have a student who want to make a mandolin using koa. I told her that it would be expensive and hard to get but I can't tell her how expensive. Koa is not a common wood for mandolins so nobody had back and side sets in their catalog. Do any of you wood suppliers have, or can make, a koa mandolin set. If so, how much?

You might try searching for koa on ebay. I have found planks for sale now and then.

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Mike do you have some dimensions?

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I would assume the people who supply ukulele woods could have something suitable. Bob Gleason (Pegasus Guitars & Ukuleles) comes to mind.

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[QUOTE=Bobc] Mike do you have some dimensions? [/QUOTE]

Mandolin back blanks are usually wedged shaped and cut that way from the log to increase yeild. 5/4 on one side 1/2 at the other. If you have bookmatched quarter sawn 5/4 stock 12" long by 6" wide that would work. I'd have a bit more carving to do but not too much extra. The sides are 20" x 3" X .125. There is some price sensitivity so let me know how much this would cost.

Whoa! Big mandolin, Mike.... You sure about those dimensions?

Sides can be 1-1/2" by 20" long, rough.

Back needs to be 12-14" long, 5-1/4" wide, 11/16" in the rough. These are minimum sizes, but will work if the stock isn't warped.

Dressed thickness, before carving, is usually 5/8".

Doesn't need to be quartered, either; flat sawn wood (for backs) works great on carved instruments. Same for the wedge cut; nice, but not necessary(in fact, I'd rather not have wedges).

There should be plenty of choices available; just think regualr hardwood suppliers, and not just instrument-specific suppliers.

Thanks for the corrections, Mario. I was just being cautious. I didn't have any mandos or plans handy when I responded. I've only built flat tops and they are deeper and wider than a typical A or F style. I guess a 1-1/4" arch is a bit on the high side

I've sent some emails of to some other wood suppliers.

I knew about the flat sawn part but I like the look of quarter sawn better. For this project, I want to keep costs pretty low so I might consider flat sawn.

Bob, Use Mario's dimensions if you are comming up with a quote. Thanks.
Mike Mahar38663.4875231481

Correction on the minimum length: 14-16" long for the back, including enough for the heel button.

The tops I supply to Roger Siminoff are .75 x 5.875 x 16, slab cut and quartered. For Koa backs you can try James at This URL. He seems like a nice a guy and deals with furniture wood as well.

Shane

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Canada

Thanks everybody. I just ordered from James at koaguitarwood.com. The price was good so I'm happy.

Great! Glad to see you on your way, let us know how it turns out!

Shane

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Canada

Cool!

If this is your first carved instrument, may I suggest you join a handful of one inch boards to practice on?

[QUOTE=Mario] Cool!

If this is your first carved instrument, may I suggest you join a handful of one inch boards to practice on?[/QUOTE]

Good idea. I've joined wood for furniture that was that thick but that wasn't up the tolerences needed for this. I really want a nice seam on this. We'll be using a shooting board. Now that I think about it, wedges could make this joint tougher because you can't flip the wood over to make supplementary angles. Your edge has to be a perfedt 90 degrees. Thanks for the heads up.